Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

On Saturday morning, Lin Yuan was woken up by his phone vibrating. It wasn't an alarm clock, but a continuous barrage of message notifications, so frequent it sounded like someone was constantly ringing a doorbell.

He pulled his phone out from under his pillow; the screen was covered with red notification dots from social media apps.

He rubbed his eyes, clicked on the notifications, and saw that all the notifications pointed to the same post—Doug Macheda had posted a photo on Instagram with the caption: "Check out the new buddy my buddy beat me up, a true masterpiece."

The photo is one of the high-resolution images that Lin Yuan had previously sent to Doug via email.

The short sword lay horizontally on the black velvet cloth, its blade half-drawn from its sheath. The bluish-gold cloud patterns spread quietly against the black background, and the dark bronze taotie-patterned guard gleamed with a faint metallic luster under the sidelight.

Within half an hour of the post being published, the comment section had already received hundreds of messages. Some people asked about the price, some speculated about the craftsmanship, and some even exaggeratedly called it "the best custom knife of the year".

While Lin Yuan was scrolling through the comments, a phone call suddenly came in.

It was a call from J. Nelson.

Lin Yuan sat up in bed and pressed the answer button.

Nelson's voice was still steady, but he spoke a little faster than usual.

"Lin Yuan, I saw the photo Doug posted. He was spamming the group chat early this morning, waking us all up. Do you know how many messages he sent in the group? I scrolled up for ages before I finally found the top one."

He said the color on the blade changes under natural light, and the patterns are so fine they're barely discernible to the naked eye. Just looking at the photos, I already think this knife surpasses all the other entries in the competition.

Could you describe the effect to me? Not the technical aspects, just the visual effect—what did you see with your own eyes?

Lin Yuan leaned against the headboard and switched the phone to his other hand.

"The texture is a layered effect of cloud-patterned steel, with a denser layering than in the competition. The color itself is bluish-gray, but under natural light, it will have a very faint bluish-green halo. When you turn the knife, the halo moves with it, making it look like the texture is flowing."

"Flowing—that matches my guess from the photos. I don't want to ask too much about the cause of this effect; it's your secret weapon. Every knifemaker has a few unspeakable skills."

I just want to know one thing: if you need similar custom orders in the future, will you be able to get an appointment?

"Yes, but it won't be cheap."

Nelson chuckled. "That's good. I'll get the team in order first. I'll discuss the specifics of the blade type with you later."

Lin Yuan had just hung up the phone and put it down when the screen lit up again. This time it was David Baker.

David's voice was more direct than usual: "Lin Yuan, I've been looking at that knife Doug gave me all morning. The sword you used in the finals had a pale gold sheen, this one is cyan."

I don't want to inquire about the causes of the two colors; I only want to ask one thing—can your process of incorporating silver into steel billets produce even more colors?

"Sure. Different formulas will produce different results."

"That's enough." David's tone was as if he were confirming a hypothesis he had been speculating about for a long time. "The two pieces you made on the show, plus this one, already prove that this is not a coincidence."

Each color corresponds to a specific process, and each process is a unique skill of yours.

I won't ask about the specific recipe, but you should know that every knife you make in the future will be research material for me.

If you want to make instructional videos, I can provide you with the venue; that would be a good offer.

"I remember. But we need to catch up on the backlog of orders in the next few weeks."

"No rush. I'm just reiterating."

Lin Yuan thanked him and hung up the phone.

He put his phone on the bed and went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. Before he could even drink it, his phone rang again.

The area code displayed on the screen was New York. He answered the phone, and the voice on the other end introduced himself with a typical Eastern accent—Ben Abbott, one of the judges of the knife-forging competition, specializing in Damascus steel forging.

"I heard Doug raving in the show's group chat all morning about how he received an amazing knife. I asked him for your number—I hope I won't bother you?"

"No need to bother you. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Nothing special. I just wanted to say that I'm really looking forward to seeing your knife. I looked at it several times after Doug sent the photo to the group chat. It's a very exquisite piece of work, and I definitely want to see it in person sometime."

"If you come to New York after the show airs, I'll show you around my workshop and we'll find a place to eat. The steaks in New York won't disappoint."

Lin Yuan politely agreed, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then hung up.

After Ben came Jason Knight, also a judge from the knife-making competition, who also got his number from Doug.

Jason's voice was more casual than Ben's. He immediately mentioned that he usually lived in Texas, unlike the others who stayed in New York, so he was also looking forward to meeting Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan agreed to everything without further conversation.

After hanging up the phone, he put it on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa.

Matt walked out of the bedroom with his hair a mess, looking like a bird's nest, wearing an old T-shirt with the collar warped from washing. He looked like he had just been woken up by the noise in the living room.

"You took four phone calls this morning," Matt rubbed his eyes. "Were they all about that knife?"

"Yes." Lin Yuan read out the judges' names one by one. "Doug sent a photo, and they all saw it."

"I told you that knife was worth the price. Now the entire judging panel of the knife-forging competition is giving your knife free publicity." Matt sat down on the sofa, picked up the half-empty cup of cold coffee on the coffee table, took a sip, then put it down again, his sleepy expression turning into an unusual seriousness. "I've made up my mind."

"What have you decided?"

"You said you could make me a weapon. I've thought about it for a long time—I don't know much about swords, hunting knives, Bowie knives, etc., are all the same to me. But there's a game I really like, and there's a weapon in it that I've always thought was really cool." He took out his phone from his pocket, swiped a couple of times, and turned the screen towards Lin Yuan. "Could you make this?"

Lin Yuan took the phone.

The screen displays a screenshot of a game, showing an enlarged rapier—long and straight with a diamond-shaped cross-section and an extremely narrow tip.

The sword hilt has a spiral-shaped conical counterweight at the end, giving it an overall simple and austere style.

"A divine leather sewing needle," Matt explained from the side. "It's from the Elden Ring. In the game, it's a heavy rapier, a weapon used by nobles, and there's no direct counterpart in reality."

However, the design of this sword is considered one of the more reasonable among the weapons in this game.

Lin Yuan zoomed in on the screen and mentally reviewed the structure of the sword.

The rapier is a real weapon, common during the European Renaissance. Its cross-section is mainly rhomboid or triangular, and it causes damage by thrusting.

The "Godskin Stitch" in this game is an enlarged version of the rapier – from the size of a one-handed rapier to almost the length of a two-handed sword, but retaining the slender proportions and diamond-shaped cross-section of a rapier.

The sword tip is extremely narrow, which means minimal resistance to penetration, but places higher demands on the rigidity of the blade and its heat treatment.

As for the exaggerated shapes and decorations on the sword, that's not a big problem. I'll send the pictures to Xiao Li and have him create a model, then we can 3D print it later.

"It can be done." He handed the phone back to Matt. "It's not one of those exaggerated things with barbs and light effects all over it. Although it's not quite the same as a real rapier when enlarged to the size of a two-handed sword, every part of its structure can be processed."

A long blade with a rhomboid cross-section, a slender tip, and a spiral counterweight—all achievable on a lathe and in a forge.

Matt's face lit up immediately. "I knew it. When are you going to get started?"

"Let me hand Doug his knife over first. He'll come to pick it up next Saturday. Your sword is after his in line."